Parking on berm to be banned by year’s end

Parking on berms will be banned in Christchurch before the end of the year.

The Christchurch City Council yesterday adopted a new traffic and parking bylaw that would make it a fineable offence to park on any berms, grassed or paved, where there was a kerb. People could still park on grass verges where there was no kerb, including rural roads.

Cr Glenn Livingstone wanted the berm parking ban to be removed from the new bylaw and the status quo remain, but his bid failed to receive enough support from fellow councillors, with seven voting for it and 10 against.

Cr Deon Swiggs said the policy, as it was written, was ill-informed and would capture a lot of people in situations it was not intended to.

The existing bylaw allowed the council to issue a fine only if the vehicle caused damage to the ground, which council staff said could be hard to prove.

The new bylaw would also prevent people parking motorhomes, trailers, or any other vehicle that could not be moved on its own, on the street for more than seven days at a time. The rule was unpopular with Lyttelton residents who argued they would suffer the most because many homes did not have offstreet parking.

Owners could get around the existing bylaw by regularly moving their vehicles a short distance or leaving trailers connected to vehicles, but under the new bylaw, they would have to be moved at least 500 metres every week.

When the proposed bylaw was discussed at the council’s Regulatory Performance Committee in July, staff said the rule would be enforced ‘‘with discretion’’ and only when a complaint was made.

Vehicles with advertising on them or being advertised for sale would also be restricted from parking on the roadside unless the vehicle was being used for day-to-day travel.